Kappa load of that! Rams announce new kit deal

Petersfields new away kit worn by Harry Wedlake

The Sports Desk

Petersfield Town are hoping the announcement of a groundbreaking new kit deal will be the spark which gets the club back to winning ways at Love Lane.

The Rams will be unveiling their new shirts and training wear, supplied by Kappa and Waterlooville firm SGFG, in the build-up to tomorrow’s Southern League division one central visit from Barton Rovers (3pm).

Petersfield are the first non-league club in the country to agree an official kit supplier deal with the giant Italian sportswear firm – the kind normally reserved for professional clubs only, with Kappa currently supporting Leeds United and Wigan Athletic with similar arrangements.

The deal marks a new venture into non-league football for the company and the Rams are the first club in the Southern League to agree a deal with them.

SGFG have also provided a complete rebranding of the East Hampshire club as well as boosting their website and social-media offerings.

Petersfield chairman Graeme Moir said: ‘We are immensely proud to be the ﬁrst non-league club in the country to have entered into this kind of agreement with both companies.

‘For a company like Kappa, who are such a big name in football, to want to enter into an agreement with a club at our level shows just how far we have come in recent years and just how much potential there is to take this club on to a different level.’

A Kappa spokesman said: ‘The deal shows we not only support professional clubs but also clubs at all levels of the game in this country.

‘We have helped to create a stunning new look for the team as well as for the branding of the club – which all parties are really pleased with.’

Manager John Robson will be particularly keen for his side to mark the unveiling of their new kit with an overdue win tomorrow.

Crucial to Rams survival hopes will be picking up results at home, where the club’s form has horribly slumped so far this campaign.

In the club’s first season at Southern League level, the Rams made the Lane a fortress with 12 wins on home soil and they boasted one of the best home records.

So far this season they have lost eight of their nine matches at Love Lane – the second worst home record in the division.

The Barton game begins a run of crucial home matches in the league for the Rams as they face fellow strugglers Histon and Beaconsfield SYCOB before Christmas and kick-off 2017 with a derby clash against Fleet Town.